A DINNER PARTY
There was some excitement in the Wright family when Elizabeth came
speeding home in Billy McGraw’s stylish little racer. They had grown
accustomed if not resigned to the peculiarities of this member of
the family who insisted upon working all day in a funny shop with
an unstylish little person, the daughter of a policeman so they
understood. Her only value in their eyes was that she was a friend of
Mary Louise’s. As has been remarked before, that fact went a long way
in the opinion of Dorfield towards establishing a person as worthy of
being cultivated.
Another thing that was reconciling the Wright family somewhat to
Elizabeth’s erratic mode of life was that she had begun to put money in
the bank. This they were sure of, as one of the sisters had had a peep
in her bank book. The shop was proving a financial success and in the
eyes of one’s family nothing succeeds like monetary success.
And here was Elizabeth driving up in style in the car of the young man
conceded by all Dorfield mothers and daughters to be the most desirable
catch in town. Next to catching him themselves the sisters of Elizabeth
would have liked to have her catch him. The mother was perfectly
impartial as to which member of her family should land such a large
game fish.
“I don’t believe she even asked him in,” declared Gertrude, peeping out
the window.
“I am sure she didn’t,” agreed Annabel. “I know he would have come in
if she had asked him. Elizabeth doesn’t know how to handle men at all.”
“No, she is simply foolish the way she goes to work,” said Pauline. “No
man likes to be cut so short. She just gave him a little nod and came
on in before he had even got back in his car and started his engine.
She’ll never win out with such indifference.”
“I don’t know about that,” put in Margaret, who loved to take the
opposite view, “sometimes the grand independent way is quite taking,
especially with a man like Billy McGraw, who has been spoiled to
death. How did you happen to get a lift?” This to Elizabeth, who had
just entered the room.
“I met Billy at Mrs. Markle’s and he asked to bring me home, as he was
coming this way,” said Elizabeth with as much sangfroid as she could
muster.
“I think I shall have the Markles and Mr. McGraw to dinner soon,” said
Mrs. Wright, who had listened with half an ear to the conversation of
her daughters. “I have meant to entertain them for some time and since
they are such friends of Billy McGraw’s it would be agreeable to have
them all come together.”
“I wouldn’t,” faltered Elizabeth. “You are not called on to entertain
them.”
“I fancy I am the best judge of that,” said her mother sharply. “I
should like to know since when it has been necessary for one of my
daughters to dictate to me when I should and should not entertain in my
own house. You say you have been calling at Mrs. Markle’s and it seems
quite fitting then that I should call on her and invite her to dinner.”
“Don’t you like Mrs. Markle?” asked Margaret curiously, noting with
amusement that Elizabeth had flushed painfully under her mother’s
tirade. Mrs. Wright’s tirades were not usually looked upon very
seriously by her daughters.
“Why, I never thought much about it,” said Elizabeth evasively.
“I fancy she is some beau grabber,” suggested Pauline.
“Why did you call on her if you didn’t like her?” asked Gertrude.
“Heavens above!” ejaculated Elizabeth. “Perhaps I had some business to
attend to--or perhaps I didn’t,” remembering suddenly that her business
with Mrs. Markle was of a delicate nature and not to be mentioned
outside of the bosom of the Higgledy-Piggledy.
“What business?” insisted Gertrude.
“The kind one gets rich attending to, my own,” said Elizabeth. She knew
she was rude, but why couldn’t her family let her alone? She had worked
hard all day typing the novel for the would-be author; writing an
obituary notice for a bereaved gentleman who had just lost his fourth
wife; and polishing up a paper for an aspiring leader of a literary
club. She was tired now and would have liked to go to her room and
be quiet for a few moments. How different life was at the shop! There
everybody was busy and nobody had time to be poking her nose in
everybody’s business.
“I fancy your business was running after Billy McGraw,” continued
Gertrude. Since rudeness was the order of the day, she was fully
capable of doing her share to keep the ball rolling.
Elizabeth’s inclination was to answer with increased acrimony but she
thought better of it and merely left the room, even refraining from
slamming the door, which was always a good way to get the last word in
an argument in the Wright household.
“Why, why, can’t they let me alone?” she asked herself when she got to
the room which she shared with Margaret. She vaguely wished she had
kept her temper and not been so quick to take it for granted that her
sisters were interfering.
“They are so idle is the reason they ask so many questions, I am sure,”
she argued with herself. “I should feel sorry for them because they
don’t know what fun it is to be busy. I’m going to try to be nicer and
bring home something in the way of news that will be helpful to them
instead of flying off the handle the way I did. I do wish though that
Mother wouldn’t entertain the Markles. Of course, she is doing it to
encourage Billy McGraw. Mother’s methods are too apparent for him who
runs not to read. Only suppose the Markles come and find things here
they want.” Here Elizabeth had to giggle a bit to herself. “They might
go off with Father’s first editions and the great-grandfather forks,
to say nothing of the silver slop basin in which George Washington is
supposed to have drunk his toddy. What am I to do? I shouldn’t let
Mother entertain such persons, but there is no stopping her short of
divulging my real reason for not having them and that would be queering
Josie’s game. Well, maybe it will teach Mother a lesson. Of course if
anything does happen they will blame me for being the one to introduce
them to such persons.”
The outcome was that the Wrights did entertain the Markles and Billy
McGraw on the same evening, although Elizabeth put in one more earnest
protest which had no more effect than to raise the ire of her mother
and sisters, who declared she was a dog in the manger. Evidently she
did not want Billy McGraw herself, but she didn’t want any of her
sisters to have him.
“He is taken with you, anyone can see with half an eye,” declared
Gertrude. “But you treat him just as though he were any ordinary young
man--”
“Isn’t he?” asked Elizabeth.
“Pooh! You know he is a cut above the others with all that money.”
The dinner party proved a success in spite of Elizabeth’s
embarrassment. The poor girl felt that the evening would never end.
The Wrights knew how to entertain and nobody in Dorfield could give a
better dinner than Mrs. Wright; the daughters were handsome and could
be agreeable; Mr. and Mrs. Markle had a social gift and easy manners
that insured a light, pleasant conversation wherever they were invited.
Elizabeth almost had hysterics when she saw her father leading Mr.
Markle into his sanctum sanctorum to show him his rare first editions,
his autographed copies, etc. Mrs. Markle was delighted with the Boydell
plates from Shakespeare and the portfolio of Hogarth’s drawings handed
down from an ancestor, who also collected.
“And this is the silver service you spoke of,” she said to Elizabeth.
“See, Felix, this old service was marked and Mrs. Wright had the
initials removed. Isn’t that wonderful?” she said naïvely to her
husband. “I wonder how they do it. It is a wonderful piece of silver.
Only feel how heavy! And look at those brass candlesticks! Heavens,
Mrs. Wright! Those candlesticks are worth more than their weight in
gold. They are of a rare and wonderful design. Surely you don’t go off
to the beach and leave such treasures unprotected?”
“Oh, yes,” said Mrs. Wright, delighted that her guest was so
appreciative of the heirlooms. “We have never had any burglaries in
Dorfield, at least none for years to amount to anything. Of course, as
a rule, we take the silver with us.”
“Oh, of course,” said Hortense, and Elizabeth listened for the
disappointed note she felt was surely in her voice.
“We either take it with us or hide it somewhere in the house,”
continued Mrs. Wright. “This heavy service I usually hide in first one
place and then another. Sometimes I hide things so well I can’t find
them myself. The tops of wardrobes are famous places. Nobody ever
thinks of looking for things there.”
“Of course, nobody would,” commented Hortense.
“I am to begin tomorrow to pack up for the summer,” went on Mrs.
Wright, rather pleased that this young woman was so attentive. “You
see, we are to go to the lake just as soon as Mary Louise’s wedding is
over. That is quite soon now. To-morrow I send the servants out to the
lake house to get it ready for us. It makes it rather inconvenient for
us, but it is only for a few days and then it is nice when we get there
to have everything in such perfect order.”
“All of you will go to the wedding?” asked Hortense.
“Oh, yes, Mary Louise has invited the entire family. It was no less
than she could do since Elizabeth is one of the bridesmaids. Mr. Wright
is not inclined to accept invitations, but we have persuaded him to go
to this wedding, since it is really the event of the year. Of course,
the girls and I would not miss it for anything.”
Elizabeth was glad when the evening was over. It embarrassed her to
see the way in which her mother and sisters made up to Billy McGraw
and the warmer their manners became the colder grew her own towards
that young man, who could not understand what he had done to merit her
disapproval. The more distant she became the closer he tried to come.
He forgot to look at the beautiful Mrs. Markle in his endeavor to make
Elizabeth smile on him.